Message from the Vice Chancellor: Kevin Johnson, M.D., Elected into the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pride that I announce Kevin Johnson, M.D., professor and vice chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics and professor of Pediatrics, was elected into the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of The National Academies yesterday at the organization’s 40th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Election into the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Membership recognizes those individuals who demonstrate outstanding professional achievement and longstanding commitment to service.

With his election, Dr. Johnson joins 14 current Vanderbilt faculty who are also members of this distinguished organization. His appointment is further evidence of Vanderbilt’s growing impact and influence in the fields of biomedical research and patient care.

The IOM was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences and is recognized as a national resource for independent, scientifically informed analysis and guidance on health issues. The IOM is unique in that its structure serves as both an honorific membership organization and an advisory organization.

With his efforts to advance the integration of health care information technology into physician workflow, and enabling patients to take a more active role in their own health through the use of information technology, Kevin’s contributions to the fields of biomedical informatics and pediatrics have already provided significant impact toward improving the health and well-being of Americans. His election into this elite group is richly deserved.

A 1983 graduate of Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Penn., and a 1987 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Kevin taught at Johns Hopkins for 10 years before joining Vanderbilt in 2001. He is also a member of the board of directors of the American Medical Informatics Association and a member of the National Institutes of Health National Advisory Research Resources Council.

Please join me as we celebrate Kevin’s election into the Institutes of Medicine of The National Academies.